At 16, I collected 78 rmp, Clsssical music records. I often found them at Good Will Stores. They came in big, heavy, platters housed in a binder with brown paper sleeves. I played them on my parent's record player console. At 17 I bought myself a ticket to attend a concert at the Kennedy Ctr. in Wash. DC. I went by myself and listened to "Pathétique" Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6, I'll never forget it.

Ever Since then, I've loved classical music. But it has always taken a back seat, because it was not very popular in my circles, and of the "bulk" to listen, house them, and collect them. Ten platters for one single full concert.

Nevertheless, I love the original vinyl recordings of performances by the likes of Glenn Gould, Yo-Yo Ma, Andres Segovia, Van Cliburn, and on and on... Curious to know what classical music you're currently listening to. 8)

Well, a friend of mine recently introduced me to the works of Rodrigo ("Fantasia Para Un Gentilhombre", or "Fantasy For A Gentleman") and Dmitri Shostakovich ("Symphony No. 5")...Anything by Neville Marriner and The Academy Of St. Martin-In-The-Fields instantly piques my attention...As does The Concertgebouw Orchestra...When I need to reflect, there is the music of Erik Satie...But, I see more Leonard Bernstein and Eugene Ormandy in the thrift store racks than anything else!

With classical recordings, unlike music from a single band, for instance, the best rendition of a classic composition, depends on the orchestra, the conductor, the soloists, the recording company.. My favorite recording of Orff's Carmina Burana:

"THE piano artistry of Arthur Rubinstein, who died at age 95 in January, is in no danger of being forgotten" wrote E. Rothstein in an article about the artist in a 1983 article in the NY times. This is the 2 LP set by Artur Rubinstein 'The Aristry Of Arthur Rubinstein' Catalog #ARL2-2359 RCA Records 1978. The feeling of intimacy of the performances is delightful.

The beauty of collecting classical music albums, is that many excellent pressings can be found in near mint condition, because they don't get as much play, and some no play at all. :( A copy of this 2 LP is being offered at auction on E-bay, factory sealed for 7 bucks plus shipping!

Pablo Casals, a Catalan musician and composer, best known for his performances of the Bach Cello Suits, one of my very favorite performances. (Mistlav Rostropovich, former conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra, recorded the same Bach Cello Suits in 1995. I have the two CD set, no vinyl :( ) These are 'short pieces' Concerto in A minor for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 129 ML 4926 from set SL-169, the Casals Festival.

"...as a rule in this fascinating and highly enjoyable collection, the voice is not recorded in quite such close-up as we have often heard with Pavarotti, and it seems naturally bigger for that. Pavarotti does achieve refinement and grace in such a passage as the opening of "O paradiso", and the items from Andrea Chènier and La fanciulla del West are particularly impressive with the full resonance and brilliance of the voice superbly caught." -- Edward Greenfield, Gramophone [5/1983]

Van Cliburn won the first International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1958. There is now an International Piano competition named after him. This performance of Rachmaninoff Concerto No. 3 was recorded live in 1958, in Carnegie Hall. Something of a landmark recording on RCA Victor LM-2355.

vinyl master wrote:That Pavarotti is a good one...Opera is not really my forte, BUT I still get stirred by this...

Opera is a genre hard to get into. However, listening to soloists, with their superhuman voices, can be sublime. My first encounter was in the 1980s while watching the movie DIVA, and listening to Wilhelmenia Wiggins Fernandez perform Eben, for 'La Wally" stunning! Then found Maria Callas, I was hooked.

A full opera might be tough to sit through, but Arias from various operas, can be delightful to listen. This recording of Maria Callas 'portraying various heroines' from several. One of my favorites "Madame Butterfly"

"Arturo Toscanini first established himself as a talented conductor when he was just 19. In a career that spanned decades, Toscanini worked with leading opera houses and symphonies across the globe, including La Scala, the Metropolitan Opera, the New York Philharmonic and the NBC Symphony Orchestra. At the age of 89, Toscanini died in New York on January 16, 1957."